Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Quilts

I've been admiring the work of Andrea Balosky for sometime now - seeing mentions of her on the blog Wonkyworld and elsewhere. Andrea made a series of small doll quilts, with hand quilting. I love them and even bought the Small Wonders catalog, even though I wasn't lucky enough to see the show.

So when I found out that Andrea had six quilts available at the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, I dithered a bit (almost too long) and then sprang into action and purchased Confetti Sandwich:

It's a win-win situation buying from AAQI. I donate to a worthy charity AND get a fabulous quilt in return. Woohoo. Okay, and the real reason I just had to get it? The Bart Simpson in me loves the name Mungpoo, which is where Andrea lives in India. Mungpoo, Mungpoo, Mungpoo. There is a wonderful article on the AAQI blog about what Andrea had to go through to send her donations.

Having it inspired me to make a quilt for the AAQI myself. I started with UnRuly 9-Patches but I ended up making it too big. So I added a border and I'm going to keep it for myself. Although now I'm wondering if that border is strong enough. That's my quilt on the right. I made my friend Kathy try one too and look at the fabulous job she did. This was all without rulers or measuring.

Kathy surprised herself by enjoying making this quilt. And wheee, look at the red she added - makes her quilt so much more dynamic than mine. That fabric is auditioning as the binding.

So since the 9-Patch was too big, I made a One Patch. What do you think? I've even got it quilted already.

It was all made ruler-free. It's a mix of Cherrywood, hand-dyes, and regular solids. looks very art quilty to me, so I wanted to see what a similar quilt would look like made with repros. I wanted it to look like a child's first quilt, made for her doll from many many years ago.

Whaddaya think of this one? Did I succeed in making it look antiquey? Would you ever have guessed I made this? Think it's worthy of donating to AAQI?

Would anyone be interested in doing something similar? I'll do a Playing with Scissors UnRuly Challenge for AAQI and give ya'all some guidelines etc (over on the UnRuly blog) if you are.

Ugh, I've run out of time to add anything more to this post. I'll try to get the next one done sooner!

Ya'all take care!

P.S. I've somehow turned into a crazed Doctor Who-phile (Whovian???) this year after forcing myself to watch episodes during the BBC America Who Year's marathon. I once read that you had to try a food nine times before you could say you hated it. I'm not willing to go that far (tuna casserole? anchovies? liver?) with food, but I know so many folks whose opinion I respect and have great geek creds that I just had to force myself with this show. I had it on in the background while I sewed and when I was really bored I didn't finish the episode (daleks, zzzzzzzz). Fell in love when I saw the episode "Voyage of the Damned," then "42" and "Blink" nailed it. It might just be my favorite ep ever.

Can't stand the first season of the reboot (except for the WWII creepy face mask children eps). I hate Rose, her mother and Mickey, really like Martha Jones but wish she weren't so mopey about the Doctor. Donna was great but I love love love the current Doctor and Amy and Rory. Anyone want to come and discuss the show with me, become my friend on Facebook! I don't want to give anything away here about the AWESOME latest episodes, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. The Silence? So darn creepy.

37 comments:

I actually like the 2nd one you did with the prints better. It has a real warm feeling to it, the solids look more arty and not something you would want to rub your hands all over. That make any sense?

Welcome to the world of the dr who addict!! I have a six-year old son with maybe eighty of the action figures, who re-creates whole episodes (and new ones) in his bedroom. Very creative, although probably not a great path for getting those grandchildren...

Blink is the best Doctor Who episode! Glad you stuck through the so-so first season and got to the good stuff! Give Torchwood a try sometime, very similar to Doctor Who but with more adult themed story lines.

Who-boy! Glad you came to the Whovian 'verse. I've loved Dr. Who for about 30 years now, and so does my whole family. Blink WAS the best ep ever! Really scary. Loved David Tennant, and now I love the new Dr. too. Amy rocks. Yes, try Torchwood too. Very related. And Captain Jack is a hoot.

Love your little quilts! I think maybe the borders on the 9-patch look a little washed out in comparison to the 9-patches. But maybe that's just because it's next to Kathy's strong colors?

It's fun to play with scissors, isn't it? I did that with my Lib Amish quilt and got converted then. I'll play along with you!

The little quilt you purchased looks just like your work, you know. And it's awesome.

Love the quilts, but agree about the border needing to be syronger. I'm a huge Dr Who fan, have been since I was a child, but certainly some episodes are better than others. It always takes me a while to get used to a new Dr, but Mat Smith is growing on me. I'm not that keen on Amy though. I agree about Torchwood, you should really give it a go.

Whose fabric scraps did you raid to make that second doll quilt?!? It does look childlike and heartfelt. But I find your "arty" one more interesting -- really like it! I've never done an AAQI quilt so I'm in for your challenge.

I love everything about this post! I am so happy you got this price less quilt.. And even happier to see your quilt in the making! I love them both. The mini print one reminds me of one I had received for my first born from a friend.. Yes, It looks antiquey. You nailed it! I am in the process of prioritizing these days and making couple of quilts for AAQI is on my list among other things for friends. Small projects are so satisfying at times. I need to remember that!Your quilt has definitely inspired me today!Have a wonderful day!hugs :)

Hi Tonya,I like both quilts for different reasons. Sometimes I wish I were a more "focused" quilter, but I can't help it, I'm just an eclectic kind of gal.What a great cause. I've been meaning to get more involved as I lost my Dad to dementia. I'm glad you posted!Not a Who-phile yet, but you did inspire me to re-visit Buffy (in order this time around, thanks to Netflix). My daughter is so proud, LOL. Got partway into season 2, yay.And you never disappoint in the "cat photo" department!Cornelia

I grew up on Dr Who - I was always scared as a kid of the daleks! Then the budget was cut and Dr Who was pretty well rubbish but I love that it is back with good stories and acting! It's a family moment round the telly in our house.

Interesting story about Andrea Bolosky: She knows Tonye Phillips who lives near Sisters and her name came up several years ago. The quilter who gave up everything and moved to India. I didn't catch her name, but that stayed with me. More recently I heard her name again and remembered it was Andrea. When I saw those quilts at AAQI I thought it might be her. I had planned on bidding on the auction quilt, but messed that up with minutes to go. I couldn't get the registration to work. When I checked on the other quilts, most were sold! I couldn't believe it because I'd been checking over and over to see when they'd be for sale. I managed to get just under the wire and bought Tuesday and Sunday. I love it! I'm so happy you got Confetti, it's really great.

I love your 9 patches, but the one patch really speaks to me in those incredible solids. I love that blue strip! I would love to join your challenge. Now that I'm part of the $1000 Promise, I keep thinking of new techniques to try.

I forget where I read that using scissors would make a quilt more wonky or liberated but it was years ago and I never have gotten around to trying it. The small quilt with solids is my favorite I think.

I love the one you bid for and got! The red does pop on Kathy's, but if yours were mine, I would be stamping words with paint in the border.My favorite of the next two is the solid one, and the print one is certainly worthy of donation. I will definitely think about any challenge you put out there. Now I said 'think'...it would be a true challenge for me.I only know of Dr Who. I don't think I have ever watched it though.

I love the quilts you made for AAQI. I had the great pleasure of taking a class with Ami Simms and she is the most amazing person. It's amazing all the programs she is involved in and the success that the AAQI has had. I'm so excited about Dr. Who (just really started watching it regularly after catching some of the David Tennant era shows and liking them as well. Noone else I know watches the show, so I friended you on Facebook for fun discussions on the subject. Can't wait for the episode tonight. i'd love to get into Torchwood, Being Human, and a couple of other shows, but between working full time, having two kids, and a house to run-not to mention trying to get in some quilting, leaves little time for my true love-TV shows. I love your blog and it was actually the first one I started reading and is still my favorite. YOur creativity is amazing.

I loved the whole Andrea in India story from the very beginning and just love how all of the synchronistic purchases by blogging friends has grown in leaps and bounds.

Andrea Lived in Portland Or (near me)as does Bill from WonkyWorld(quilt curator), and Lori Dejarnatt who is from the Bend area. Lori (Humble Quilts)bid on, and got two of Andrea's quilts about when you did.

Info and our web page is here:http://www.alzquilts.org/liqublliqume.html. Let me know when you send anything in and I'll get you on our page...have others join our yahoo group under Clare see the link from that page or from our Liberated Webring page for database tracking and counting.

I do all the data and tracking and photos for our group plus more data entry for AAQI. AAQI loves our group as we have been so productive and I love us, too ;)

I love your quilts and know you will inspire so many more quilters to join in this fabulous cause!

In the late 1980’s, I belonged to a small quilt group that was way ahead of it’s time. One gal asked us to piece nine patch blocks for her without using rulers or measuring devices of any kind. She insisted we use scissors rather than rotary cutters, and work with individual bits of fabric instead of presewn strips. What a challenge that was for me. I’m certain I cheated when making my blocks.

Now those freeform style quilts are my favorites. Hope you get a huge response to your fundraising efforts.

I love your unRUley quilts! I'm totally like that too and it's awesome! I have a book called Rule Breaking Quilts by Kathry Schmidt that I think you'd love (and quilt book club if you're interested) But I haev had so much fun breaking the rules I hardly follow anyway. Great blog! I plan to visit again soon.Anna

Both quilts are delightful. What a bounty for AAQIʻs stash. Above all, so wonderful that others have been touched by the joy of being productive for this cause. The involvement is so very direct, and rewarding to boot.

Yeah, I would have moved here just for the name, Mungpoo! Everything about this place is irresistible. The people could not be more amiable. They smile always. Lo! The breathtaking, endless shifts of mountains. And as a bonus, on a clear day I can see Tibet.

So, dear one, thanks for snagging that "Confetti Sandwich." Symbolically, I toss a few bits of color to celebrate our new friendship.

Gosh what a joy to read your blog today. I knew Andrea Bolosky a million years ago and got to visit her home when she lived in Oregon. She has always been very talented and a lovely person. It is wonderful to see her name and see that she is still sharing herself with others.

About Me

I live in Florida with my seven cats and my husband. I've been a quilter since 1987 and consider my style liberated and non-traditional traditional (think Gwen Marston, Gee's Bend, and string quilts) and I watch way too much tv while sewing and hand-quilting.